USA > New York > Monroe County > Rochester > History of Rochester and Monroe county, New York, from the earliest historic times to the beginning of 1907, Vol. II > Part 22
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Halbert S. Greenleaf attended the common schools of Guilford, Vermont, and Greenfield, Massachusetts, and later was a student in the seminary at Brattleboro, Vermont. He taught school for a time in Guilford and Greenfield and was afterward with Sargent & Foster in business at Shelburne Falls, Massachusetts. For a time he was engaged in the lock manufacturing business at that place as a member of the firm of Yale & Greenleaf, and in the manufacture of bits and gimlets as a member of the firm of Miller & Greenleaf. He was superintendent of salt mines at Avery Island, Louisiana, from 1865 to 1867. During the Civil war, however, he put aside his business interests in order to respond to the coun- try's call for aid, becoming Colonel of the Fifty- second Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry in Sep- tember, 1862, and he participated in the battle of Indian Ridge and the siege of Port Hudson. He commanded that regiment until August 14, 1863, and later was captain of the Colonel Benedict, a steamer on the Mississippi river in the government service until 1865.
On leaving the south in 1867, Mr. Greenleaf came to Rochester and joined James Sargent in the manufacture of bank, safe and key locks, under the name of Sargent & Greenleaf, which was changed in 1896 to the Sargent & Greenleaf
H. S. GREENLEAF.
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Company, with Mr. Sargent as president and Mr. Greenleaf as vice president. They built up an ex- tensive business and our subject continued in that line throughout his remaining days. Their plant was located at No. 178 Court street, and a con- stantly increasing trade gave them prominence in industrial circles. Mr. Greenleaf was also a trustee of the Rochester Savings Bank.
In his political views he was a democrat and was much interested in the political situation of the country. His fellow townsmen, recognizing his worth and ability, called him to public office and honors, and he represented his district in the forty-eighth and fifty-second congresses, taking an active part in the councils of the law-making body of the nation. He ever stood firm in support of his honest convictions, neither fear nor favor swerving him from a course which he believed to be right. In community affairs he was also deeply in- terested and became a charter member of the board of park commissioners of Rochester in 1888 and served until his death. He was also a charter member of the Mechanics' Institute of Rochester, with which he was connected for twelve years from 1885. No public trust reposed in him was ever betrayed in the slightest degree, and he stood for all that is honorable in man's relations with his fellowmen, his home locality and to his coun- try. He belonged to the Masonic fraternity and to the Independent Order of Odd Fellows for many years and was likewise a member of the Genesee Valley Club and active in the Univer- salist church, contributing liberally to its support and doing all in his power to advance its interests.
On the 24th of June, 1852, in Wilmington, Vermont, Mr. Greenleaf married Miss Jean Frances Brooks, who was born in Bernardston, Massachusetts, a daughter of Dr. John Brooks and a sister of Mrs. Yale. Mr. and Mrs. Green- leaf traveled life's journey happily together as man and wife for fifty-four years, their mutual love and confidence increasing as the years passed by. They bore together the joys and sorrows, the adversity and prosperity which checker the career of all. Mrs. Greenleaf still occupies the home at No. 196 North Goodman street, Rochester, which her husband built for her thirty-six years ago. His personal characteristics were those which everywhere win friends. He possessed a most cheerful, genial nature and kindly spirit. It is doubtful if he ever did anything in his life as a matter of policy and yet he was always doing kind things for others out of the goodness of his heart. He did not seek notoriety and his public service was ever performed from a sense of conscientious obligation. He loved his fellowmen because of his broad humanitarianism and his interest in everything that pertained to the public welfare was deep and sincere. He had the happy faculty of not only winning friends but also retaining
them, and his death came with a sense of great personal bereavement to the great majority of all with whom he had come in contact through an active, useful and honorable career.
RAYMOND E. WESTBURY.
Raymond E. Westbury is one of the younger members of the Rochester bar, whose years, how- ever, seem no impediment to success, for he has already attained a clientage which many an older practitioner might well envy. He is likewise well known in political circles and at the present writing is serving as alderman of the third ward. He is one of Rochester's native sons, born on the 4th of May, 1876. His parents were David H. and Catharine (Meadows) Westbury, the former born in this state and the latter in England. The father was for many years engaged in the boot and shoe business in Rochester and was also well known in connection with civic affairs and polit- ical interests here. He served at one time as alderman of the third ward, was president of the common council and is now superintendent of the water works at Hemlock Lake. His wife died June 15, 1902.
Raymond E. Westbury began his education in the public schools and passed through consecutive grades, eventually becoming a student in the free academy, while later he attended the Roches- ter Business Institute. He studied law in the office of W. Butler Crittenden and was admitted to the bar in June, 1902, since which time he has engaged in active practice of law, being the senior member of the firm of Westbury & Fries since the 1st of August, 1903. He was elected alderman of the third ward in November, 1903, and received public endorsement of his official course by his re-election in November, 1905. He is now chair- man of the law committee, and a member of the railroad committee and the committees on city property, charter amendment and public schools. He has stood for progress and improvement in municipal affairs and has put forth effective effort for the welfare of the city.
On the 15th of August, 1905, Mr. Westbury was united in marriage to Miss Grace T. Adams, and they have one son, Raymond Adams. The parents hold membership in St. Andrews Protest- ant Episcopal church, of which Mr. Westbury is junior warden. He is a member of the Masonic fraternity and of the Masonic Club. He also be- longs to the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Improved Order of Red Men and St. Andrews Brotherhood, while in the line of his profession he is connected with the Rochester Bar Associa- tion. He is a young man of strong mentality and laudable ambition, who has already made for
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HISTORY OF ROCHESTER AND MONROE COUNTY.
himself a prominent place in public regard, and judging from past indications the future holds in store for him larger successes and greater prominence.
LIEUTENANT E. N. WALBRIDGE.
Lieutenant Edward Newton Walbridge, a citi- zen of Rochester, well known in military circles, was born in Rochester, October 11, 1859, in the Eagle Hotel, where the Powers Hotel now stands, his father having been proprietor of the former hostelry for twenty years. He is a son of Silas Dewey Walbridge, who was born in Bennington, Vermont, May 28, 1815, and died in Rochester, June 23, 1899. On the 14th of January, 1840, he married Sarah Maria Anderson at Gaines, New York, a native of Orleans county, this state. The old Anderson omestead in which they were mar- ried is still standing on the Ridge road and is in possession of the Anderson family. Mrs. Wal- bridge died at her home here December 26, 1900, at the very advanced age of eighty-two years. She is a daughter of Dr. Thomas Archibald An- derson, but lost her parents when quite young and was placed under the guardianship of her uncle, Robert Anderson.
Silas D. Walbridge removed from Vermont to Rochester in 1826 with his parents, who con- ducted a tavern at the junction of Culver road and Earl avenue. Later they removed to Gaines, New York, where Silas D. Walbridge conducted a general store. He afterward conducted a hotel on the Ridge road at Clarkson and ran a line of stages into Rochester. In 1843 he again took up his abode in the city and bought out a livery stable, which he conducted for four years. Later he conducted the Mansion house and afterward purchased the Eagle Hotel, remaining its propri- etor from 1847 until 1863, when he sold out to D. W. Powers. He next purchased the old Mum- ford homestead on State street, where he resided for about twenty-four years, when he sold the place to the Rome & Watertown Railroad Com- pany. After his retirement from hotel life he en- gaged in the real-estate business up to the time of his demise. He was of the sixth generation of the Walbridge family in America, tracing his an- cestry back to Henry Walbridge, who came from England in the early part of the seventeenth cen- tury. Silas D. Walbridge served as lieutenant in the New York State Militia about 1836 under Governor W. L. Marcy and Brigadier General John B. Lee, Fifty-third Brigade, and his com- mission is now in possession of Lieutenant E. N. Walbridge. The family numbered six children: Arthur Dewey, a graduate of Princeton College; Henry Anderson ; Helen Maria; Sarah and Mary,
twins; and Edward N. The last-named, however, is the only one now living.
In taking up the personal history of Lieutenant Edward N. Walbridge we present to our readers the life record of one who is widely and favorably known in Rochester, where his entire life has been passed. He was only three years of age when his father left the hotel and the family resi- dence was established in the old Mumford home- stead on State street, where he lived for twenty- four years, while for twenty years he has been located at his present place of residence, which is the old Field homestead, built eighty-five years ago. His early education was acquired in No. 6 grammar school, the Rochester Free Academy and the Rochester Business University. For a period he was a clerk in the hardware store of Hamilton & Matthews and later joined his father in busi- ness as manager of real-estate interests. The partnership between father and son was continued until the death of the former and Lieutenant Walbridge has since been alone in real-estate operations. His attention, however, is given only to the development and supervision of his own property.
In his youth Lieutenant Walbridge had a strong desire to enter the United States Naval Academy but met opposition on account of his parents. In September, 1891, however, he entered the service of the state in the Naval Militia at the time of the enactment of the land providing for this organization. He is now commanding officer of the Second Separate Division of the Naval Militia of New York, with quarters at Rochester. At the outbreak of the Spanish- American war he volunteered for service and was commissioned an ensign in the United States navy on the 18th of July, 1898. He went to Norfolk, Virginia, and was assigned to duty on the United States Steamship Buffalo and subsequently to the United States Steamship Kanawha. Upon that ship he went to Cuba and remained in Cuban waters until the latter part of September, when the ship was ordered north and went out of commission, Lieutenant Walbridge receiving an honorable discharge October 12, 1898. He then rejoined the state service as commanding officer of the Naval Militia organization here.
On the 2d of December, 1884, occurred the mar- riage of Edward Newton Walbridge and Miss Helen Velnette Hess, who was born in Wayland, Steuben county, New York, October 21, 1860, and died April 16, 1907. She was a daughter of Solomon F. and Helen (Chichcester) Hess, in whose family were but two children, the younger being Judson F. Hess, who is now in the tobacco business in Rochester. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Wal- bridge were born three children, Arthur Hess, Elsa Velnette and Edward Dewey. Mrs. Wal- bridge was an active member of the Tuesday
SILAS D. WALBRIDGE.
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HISTORY OF ROCHESTER AND MONROE COUNTY.
Musicale for thirteen years and took great in- terest in music, particularly vocal, possessing a fine soprano voice, which made her a great favor- ite in musical circles of the ctiy.
Lieutenant Walbridge is a member of the So- ciety of Sons of the American Revolution, of The L. Boardman Smith camp No. 25, United Span- ish War Veterans and the Naval and Military Order of the Spanish War. He has always been deeply interested in naval and military affairs. He belongs to the Oswego Yacht Club and to the Rochester Yacht Club, of which he was commo- dore in 1887. His membership relations extend to the Rochester Club and to the Masonic frater- nity. He has long been interested in outdoor sports, being associated at different times with various organizations for their promotion. An active member of the First Presbyterian church, which his father's family always attended, he formerly served as deacon and is now filling the office of elder. Lieutenant Walbridge has an ex- tensive acquaintance in Rochester, where a genial manner and sterling worth have gained him the favorable regard and the respect of all with whom he has been associated. Aside from any prestige which his family might secure to him, he has gained the warm friendship that is based only upon congeniality and a recognition of personal worth in others.
GEORGE FREDERICK CROSMAN.
George Frederick Crosman is one of the owners of the largest seed house not only of America but of the world and in this connection is controlling an enterprise which has had a continuous existence in Rochester of seventy years, having been founded by Charles F. Crosman, the father, in 1838. It had become an enterprise of some importance at the time of the birth of our subject, on the 14th of July, 1852. From his fourteenth year he has been closely associated with the business, not as an employe but as one of the owners thereof, owing to the death of the father. Prior to this time he had mastered the common branches of English learning as taught in the public schools and had also attended the DeGraff Military Academy.
At the time when most boys are more concerned in the games of youth than in business opportuni- ties Mr. Crosman became a factor in the commer- cial life of Rochester, he and his older brother, Charles, taking charge of the wholesale and retail seed business which their father had established. The rapid growth of the western country com- bined with Rochester's excellent opportunities for shipment made this an excellent location for a
business of this character. The Crosman brothers recognized their advantage and improved it. Today the name of Crosman is known in al- most every village and hamlet of the country and in many sections of foreign lands as well. Their trade has reached mammoth proportions and while the main offices have always been maintained at Rochester, branch establishments have been con- ducted at Cobourg and at Wellington, Ontario, where the famous Crosman peas are grown for seed. The firm has ever kept pace with modern business ideas and the increase of their business is due to no secret methods but has resulted from the excellence of the goods which they carry, their promptness in filling orders and their thorough reliability in all business transactions. They have in their employ from one hundred and twenty-five to one hundred and fifty people.
On the 19th of October, 1879, George F. Cros- man was married to Miss Ella D. Todd, the only daughter of Ira Todd, one of the prominent citi- zens of Brighton, New York. She died on the 4th of November, 1887, leaving two daughters: Clara M. and Beatrice L. On the 19th of June, 1901, Mr. Crosman wedded Gertrude M. Hollister. of St. Louis, a daughter of Eli T. Hollister, presi- dent of the Crescent Printing Company of that city, who was formerly one of the largest wholesale commission merchants there, handling goods in carload lots, while now he is at the head of one of the most extensive printing concerns of the Missis- sippi valley. His wife was Mary Elizabeth Pitts, of Alton, Illinois, and to them were born four children. The Pitts' were an early Massachusetts family while the Hollister family was established in Connecticut in pioneer times. Reed H. Hollis- ter, the grandfather of Mrs. Crosman, went to Honolulu when it was a trading point and there established the Hollister Drug Company, which is still in existence.
Mr. Crosman belongs to the New York State and the Western New York Agricultural Societies and also to the Chamber of Commerce. He has taken the thirty-third degree, the highest in Ma- sonry, being identified with various Masonic bodies in Rochester, exemplifying in his life the bene- ficent spirit of the craft and doing all in his power to promote the growth of the order and secure the wide acceptance of its principles. His acquaintance is wide in Rochester, where his en- tire life has been passed, and in the city of his nativity his business record is as an open book which all may read. Throughout the entire coun- try the name of Crosman stands as a synonym for business integrity. Both brothers certainly de- serve much credit, starting in business life as they did, when they had not yet passed their teens. It is often the stimulus of necessity, how- ever, that brings out the best and strongest in men. They summoned their latent powers to
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HISTORY OF ROCHESTER AND MONROE COUNTY.
meet the responsibilities early thrust upon them and at all times have been actuated by a laudable desire for advancement, finding delight in the suc- cessful solution of complex, intricate problems. They have ever conducted business alike fair to employer and employe, seeking only the legitimate reward of labor, and lives of continuous activity have made them substantial citizens of Rochester.
GILBERT CURTIS.
There is no better criterion concerning the life and work of any individual than his position in the regard of his fellow townsmen. The com- munity that knows him in his every day life be- comes cognizant of his real worth and judges him by his character rather than by any special success he may have attained in business or any single line of activity. Throughout the com- munity in which he made his home Gilbert Cur- tis was held in warmest regard, winning not only the respect but also the closer ties of friendship from the great majority of those with whom he came in contact.
A native of Stockbridge, Massachusetts, he was born January 8, 1818, his parents being Barna- bus and Asenath Curtis, who were likewise natives of the old Bay state. Their family numbered seven children, of whom Gilbert Curtis was the eldest. For a short time he attended school in his native town and in 1825 accompanied his parents on their removal to Monroe county, New York, his father purchasing a farm in the town of Brighton from Daniel Penfield, one of the early and prominent settlers, for whom the town of Penfield was named. This farm afterward be- came the property of Gilbert Curtis and upon it his last days were passed.
Following his arrival in Monroe county, Mr. Curtis continued his studies in the common schools of the town of Brighton and afterward in the high school at Rochester. Putting aside his text-books, he left home and for three years was on a whaling vessel, which made voyages to many parts of the world. It was an interesting ex- perience, bringing into his life many incidents unknown to the landsman, and his reminiscences in later years concerning his life on a whaler were always a source of entertainment to his friends. Upon his return he took ship at Boston and went to New Orleans, where he enlisted for service in the Mexican war, his commanding of- ficer being Colonel Dent, afterward a brother-in- law of General U. S. Grant. He served for about three years in the army, the regiment being discharged in California soon after the discovery of gold in that state.
His military life having ended in 1849, Mr. Curtis continued a resident of California until 1855 but met with only a fair degree of success in his mining operations. He became, however, familiar with that life that constitutes the roman- tic, unique and interesting chapter in the history of American development. When six years had been passed on the Pacific coast he returned to Monroe county and settled upon the old home- stead farm in the town of Brighton, his remain- ing days being devoted to general agricultural and horticultural pursuits, in which he was quite successful. He brought bis place under a high state of cultivation. With its rich harvests and large fruit crops it presented a most attractive appearance, proving one of the pleasing features in the landscape.
In his political affiliation Mr. Curtis was in early life a stanch whig and later he became an earnest retpublican. The only office he ever held, however, was that of school trustee. He was espe- cially interested in the cause of education and in a quiet way did everything he could to pro- mote good schools and advance the intellectual development of the community. He was himself a well informed man on all topics of general in- terest, reading broadly and thinking deeply. He was charitable and of kindly spirit, giving gen- erously of his means to those in need, yet in his beneficence was entirely unostentatious, and throughout his life was at all times unassuming. To see him in his later years, quietly pursuing the work of the farm, amid scenes of great peace- fulness and activity, one would hardly dream that there were in his life history chapters of intense interest connecting him with the varied experi- ences of a whaling vessel on the deep, with mili- tary service in the lands of the Montezumas and with the mining excitement of early days in the golden west. Reminiscences of those times, how- ever, enriched his conversation and added an in- tensely interesting element to it. To know Mr. Curtis was to respect him, and his genuine worth was recognized by all who knew him in Monroe county. He died upon the old homestead farm, June 1, 1885, and was laid to rest in Brighton cemetery.
GEORGE R. COATES.
George R. Coates, treasurer of the firm of Haz- ard, Coates & Bennett, extensive dealers in and smelters of metals, has advanced to his present position of affluence as the result of his own ef- forts. Often do we hear it said of those who have attained prosperity by reason of well directed la- bor, that they were men who have risen through
GILBERT CURTIS.
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advantageous circumstances and yet to such carp- ing criticism and lack of appreciation there needs be made but the one statement, that fortunate environments encompass nearly every man at some stage of his career, but the strong man and the successful man is he who realizes that the proper moment has come, that the present and not the future holds his opportunity. It is this quality in Mr. Coates that has gained him notable success in the business world and won him a creditable name in connection with industrial interests in Rochester.
A native of England, Mr. Coates was born in Ipswich, on the 21st of March, 1860. His father, George Coates, was a machinist by trade and brought his family from England to the United States in 1867, settling in Albany, where he lived for several years. He then took a position with the New York Central Railway Company and re- moved to Rochester, serving that company in the capacity of expert machinist. He died in this city in 1896.
George R. Coates was only seven years of age when he accompanied his parents on the removal to the new world and was a young lad when he came to Rochester. After completing a public- school education he entered the Rochester Business University. His education completed, he spent a short time with the firm of Scofield & Hitchborn, successors to the old dry-goods firm of Brennan & Company. He afterward entered the employ of Levi Hey, a successful dealer in rags and metals, and there by his close application, ready adapta- bility and unfaltering enterprise, he won promo- tion until taken into the business by Mr. Hey in recognition of his valuable service. During his early connection with the business Mr. Hey took a large consignment of horses to England and Mr. Coates had charge of the business in his absence. To the present time he has continued to deal in metals and other men and capital have come into the business. Several changes have occurred in the partnership, the Levi Hey Company having been formed in 1890. Later the business was con- ducted under the firm style of Hey & Company and upon the death of its founder and promoter, Mr. Hey, the business was reorganized under the firm style of Hazard, Coates & Bennett, with Mr. Hazard as president, Mr. Coates as treasurer and Mr. Bennett as secretary. Mr. Coates has in fact been treasurer of all these companies and the suc- cess of the business is attributable in no small de- gree to his executive force, his carefully laid plans and his determination in carrying forward to suc- cessful completion whatever he undertakes.
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